Temperature is an important vital sign in patient evaluation. Physicians commonly use a variety of methods for determining patient temperature including, for example, obtaining temperature measurements with a thermometer. While thermometers utilizing mercury have been in existence for many years, modern thermometers typically employ one or more electronic sensors configured to measure patient temperature. Such sensors may take one or more measurements over a relatively short period of time. Based on these measurements, the thermometer may generate an estimated internal and/or core temperature of the patient.
Existing non-contact thermometers typically employ a sensing element configured to measure the temperature of, for example, the patient's forehead, temple, and/or other external body surfaces without contacting these surfaces, and to estimate the patient's core temperature based on such measurements. Such non-contact thermometers are described in co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/450,446, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. While the accuracy of measurements taken with existing non-contact thermometers is highly dependent upon the distance and alignment of the device relative to the external body surface, such thermometers are typically not configured to assist the user in properly orienting the device prior to measurement. Thus, measurements taken with such devices are prone to significant error, and existing non-contact thermometers are not highly reliable as a means of patient evaluation.
The example embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward overcoming at least the deficiencies described above.